It’s TIme we talked about dickel
Dickel. Just the mention of the word can send the whiskey insaniacs off the deep end. I can hardly be faulted for suggesting that Dickel is the most polarizing brand in the land. In the insaniac community it’s quite rare to see someone passionately declare themselves a fan, and then doggedly defend their position. Most folks turn their nose up at the mere mention of it dismissively mention “flintstones vitamins” and move on. Why does this happen though? Dickel is a huge distillery, and while it may not be the biggest of the majors, it is a major producer. They have multiple products on the market, seemingly everywhere, and they source for a lot of other brands, and while the insaniacs claim to not buy them ever and bellow that you shouldn’t either, clearly a lot of other people are or they wouldn’t be in business. Dickel has fans. Boat loads of them. They just don’t break through the noise of the internet whiskey people.
This was a polarizing bottle, expectations were a bit high, probably.
Let’s talk a bit about why this may have happened in more recent history. Smooth Ambler for a long time was sourcing and releasing some very good older barrels under their Old Scout label that they sourced from LDI/MGP. This was pretty much pre-instagram, and they were spectacular releases, affordable, easy to find, and they were expertly selected and put together, and to this day those releases are legend. It put Smooth Ambler on the map, and developed a legion of passionate fans. In time, MGP started raising prices on their barrels, and Smooth Ambler and a lot of others that were sourcing, went looking for alternative suppliers. Dickel produces a lot of whiskey, so Smooth Ambler bought a lot of whiskey. They started to release their bottles in 2017 or 2018 I believe, and they were generally not well received. “TOO Minerally, Flintstone’s vitamins, children’s aspirin,” and other less pleasant descriptors were bandied about liberally on social media. But they did sell, as their silent majority fanbase did buy them. Smooth Ambler went back to acquiring MGP barrel however, much to the delight of the anti-Dickel crowd.
Batch 12 of Old Carter Whiskey showed what George Dickel could be when placed in the hands of expert blenders. Dickel doesn’t have their own Carters, apparently.
Fast forward a few years to Dickel announcing their own 13 year old bottled in bond with arguably one the most attractive label designs in whiskey. This blue bombshell had people in a pre-release frenzy, even those skeptical of Dickel were intrigued. THIRTEEN YEARS! This was an instagram era release, so hype and expectations were off the charts, and with prices rising on older MGP/KY releases, the price point of this Dickel was in the range where everyone could afford it. It landed, people started buying it, trying it, and it ended with people more or less holding the same positions they had held before-Loved it or hated it. “Flintstone’s vitamins”the catch phrase of Dickel haters, was tossed around liberally online, the hate drowning out those who dared profess love for it. The reaction to the “distilled in Tennessee” on any label has become part of the fabric of the insaniac community, and has mainly shaped the thoughts and opinions of people who see that on a label to this day. DICKEL. The whiskey community generally doesn’t use the word as complimentary.
Old Carter batch 12 launched at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival in 2022, this bottle came from Sheri Poppins, and she had a straight chug out of it, probably.
But something has changed. Several somethings really. Master blenders from non-distilling producers had access to these barrels, again cost of ownership made it easier to get aged whiskey to work with, and they started using it as component whiskey in their blends. One of my first experiences with this was with Barrell Craft Spirits. Still had some of that mineral note, but it was muted, not overpowering and dominant. The best part was that it was drinkable. Bump forward to 2022, and Barrell released the exquisite batch 32 of their bourbon, a three distillery blend- Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee. Aged five, six, seven and ten years, my tasting notes in my instagram review mentioned cherry, cinnamon, caramel etc… I believe, but do not know, that some of the whiskey in it was from Beam or Heaven Hill, featuring a slightly savory beam nut. The thing I had forgot to mention anywhere in that post was anything about Dickel. Why? Because it was artfully blended into it, and none of the typical polarizing notes existed. I’m certain it added a lot of sweetness to the batch, and it’s likely why it was used, but I was floored. This was simply a good whiskey, and it included Dickel. How could this be possible? This bottle started to make it increasingly difficult to dismiss Dickel simply because it was Dickel.
Sheri Carter pulled the finger, probably.
A few months later, enter Mark and Sherri Carter. The dynamic duo behind the Old Carter brand who were initially known to whiskey fans for their involvement in Kentucky Owl, released batch 12 of their bourbon. Distilled 100% in Tennessee. My first glass was at the New Orleans Bourbon Festival. Mark and Sherri Carter brought some of the soon to be released batch 12 to a pre-party at Barrel Proof on Magazine. In my original instagram post I wrote- “I believe that this soon to be released batch 12 is going to make it very difficult for those that dislike Dickel at all costs to defend their positions.” The expert blending didn’t erase the Dickel funk, it made it a component of the layered flavors of the bottle. This was a mind changing whiskey, and my pal Bryan kept enthusiastically shouting “It’s DICKEL!” pretty much the rest of the week. He meant it as a compliment, and I agreed wholeheartedly. Dickel is no longer a bad word, so stop listening to those that use it as such, and see for yourself. Dickel has now released some acclaimed budget whisky that several insaniacs have started to publicly praise. I think that the UrbanBourbonist was one of the first to really champion the 8 year release, so perhaps we will continue to see a change in public perception after all, and Dickel will be welcomed into the community, and the haters will have to find another polarizing villain.
- Mickey Pinstripe